This invention relates to a rail mounting system for use in connection with rail beds.
Rails for railroads and similar applications are laid on top of transversely extending ties to which they are fastened. Originally, all ties were of wood and the rails secured to them by spikes driven through openings in the rail base. More and more, however, the use of concrete ties is preferred; various ways of securing the rails to these have been proposed and it is currently the accepted state of the art that a yieldable connection is the most advantageous one for various reasons.
Such a connection is disclosed in British Patent No. 2,045,320. A problem here is that the connection cannot laterally guide the rail and that lateral forces must be transmitted by a guide plate. Also, the concrete rail must be provided with special reinforcements beneath which a claw of the connecting device can engage, and the application of tension is difficult.
A spring nail for wooden ties is known from German Patent No. 1,106,788. This permits simple mounting and dismounting, as well as being able to withstand lateral forces transmitted from the rail. However, this nail is not usable with a concrete tie, because the low coefficient of friction between the steel of the nail and the concrete of the tie is insufficient to produce the required hold-down force. This cannot be remedied by deforming the shaft of the nail within the concrete tie, because to do so would result in cracking of the tie parallel to its reinforcements.